Life with Dylan

Category: friends

  • Finding the Perfect Pumpkin

    It’s October so that means lots of visits to pumpkin patches. We are on a quest to find the perfect pumpkin.

    Recently Dylan and I went to the ENC Fall Faire and Pumpkin Patch with a friend and her son. Walking through the trails of the ENC with the leaves crunching beneath our feet definitely put us in the mood for Fall. (Even though it was a warm day outside in Southern California)

    First stop was the petting zoo so Dylan could get up close and personal with some furry friends. I think he has a magnet inside of him that draws him to animals no matter where we are.

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  • Do Your Friends Know the Real You?

    What would the world be without friends? Where would Eeyore be without Pooh or Tigger without Rabbit?

    Over the past week or two I have been going through some pretty tough times. Probably some of the toughest and most trying times I have gone through as a mother in a long time. I was at a loss for words and didn’t know where to turn.

    Photo courtesy of Disney

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  • Dylan’s Lego Birthday – Part 1

    Last week was Dylan’s 8th birthday and the festivities seemed to go on forever. Maybe that is why I kept putting off writing this blog post. Or maybe it is because I was hoping for something a little more exciting to write about. So much time and preparation went into planning Dylan’s LEGO Birthday party. Everything he wanted, I somehow managed to make happen. The only thing I couldn’t do was make people show up!

    Yes, I said it, people didn’t show up to his party. I wonder what posses a parent to RSVP with a yes and confirm via email only days before the party and then not show up. No call, no email, no text … nothing. Only three kids showed up and two of them were twins, so that doesn’t really count. So basically, two people showed up out of the seven who said they would be here. Well, we made the best of it and still had fun!

    The living room was transformed into a Lego-wonderland and the kids had time to build whatever they wanted. Some of the creations were great! We even had a jar filled with Lego’s and the person who guessed the closest to how many Lego’s were in it won a prize. I knew there was a good reason for Dylan to own so many Lego’s.

    Next we played Lego Bingo with a great template I found  from Amy at LivingLocurto.com The kids loved this game so much that we played three times! Since all the kids didn’t show up, I had extra prizes to give away … see I found one positive already!



    Using Lego mini kits we also had races to see who could build the kit the fastest. However, I was so busy watching the kids that I forgot to take pictures of this. Oops!

    Mini Corn Dogs, Cheese Balls, and Fresh Fruit
    Cake designed by Dylan – Made by Mom

    All in all, the kids had a good time. The birthday kit from the Lego Store was huge hit with kids too!

    I guess the mom in me just feels bad that my son couldn’t have had a better party. The party that he had dreamed about.

    Is there something wrong with home birthday parties? Do parents only want to go if the party is at a pool or a bounce house like Jump ‘n Jammin? Do I need to pay hundreds of dollars on a game truck and invite 30 people to get kids to come to my son’s birthday party? A birthday party is not a place to drop off all your kids (siblings included) so you can have the day to yourself. A birthday party is for the birthday child and his or her friends.

    I would love to hear your thoughts on this!